Who's considered emmigrating because of tax?

Randvegeta

Anyone here ever considered leaving the UK to avoid the ridiculous tax rates?

I'm quite interested in hearing both sides here. Why would you consider/not consider moving?

Cook_County

What "ridiculous tax rates" are you referring to?

CLAPTON

If you do emigrate, probably best to avoid anywhere that requires knowledge of the English language.

Randvegeta

Cook_County wrote: »

What "ridiculous tax rates" are you referring to?

That would be the 50p tax rate. You know, the rate that most high profile economists believe to be causing lasting damage to the whole UK. That one.

If you do emigrate, probably best to avoid anywhere that requires knowledge of the English language.

Why is that? Because all English speaking nations have high tax?

John_Pierpoint

It is not just income tax, it is all those other stealth taxes or not so stealthy taxes on (say) road fuel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending#Government_spending_as_a_percentage_of_GDP

Randvegeta

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

It is not just income tax, it is all those other stealth taxes or not so stealthy taxes on (say) road fuel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_spending#Government_spending_as_a_percentage_of_GDP

Yes there's plenty of tax about in this country... So... no one considering moving?

John_Pierpoint

Emigrating is not that easy these days.
You have to be rich or young and talented to be allowed to go somewhere "better".

I tried to encourage a family to go to Australia a dozen years ago, I bet they wish they had now.
In Europe, Switzerland & Norway stand out from the crowd - that is why they are not member of the EU.

Where would suggest as a suitable destination?

bendix

I recently left the UK, and one of the main reasons was the tax (although I do have a history of working overseas).

I earned a salary which JUST about took me into the 50% tax take. Given the fact that I also lost my personal allowance and the changes to the pensions law limiting tax free contributions, I decided enough was enough. Couple that with the increase in VAT and ever rising NI contributions, and the decision was easy. I was planning to be in the UK for 4-5 years. In the end I lasted just over two.

By the time I left the UK in June this year, my take home salary was around 800 quid a month lower than when I arrived in January 2009, despite three pretty good pay increases during that time.

I am now working in Hong Kong, where the top income tax rate is 15% with no National Insurance, no VAT, no capital gains tax etc etc.

And I'm not young either - I'm 47. In three years I will retire to Thailand on my 50th birthday, and I don't intend ever returning to the UK, except for the occasional business trip.

Randvegeta

bendix wrote: »

I recently left the UK, and one of the main reasons was the tax (although I do have a history of working overseas).

I earned a salary which JUST about took me into the 50% tax take. Given the fact that I also lost my personal allowance and the changes to the pensions law limiting tax free contributions, I decided enough was enough. Couple that with the increase in VAT and ever rising NI contributions, and the decision was easy. I was planning to be in the UK for 4-5 years. In the end I lasted just over two.

By the time I left the UK in June this year, my take home salary was around 800 quid a month lower than when I arrived in January 2009, despite three pretty good pay increases during that time.

I am now working in Hong Kong, where the top income tax rate is 15% with no National Insurance, no VAT, no capital gains tax etc etc.

And I'm not young either - I'm 47. In three years I will retire to Thailand on my 50th birthday, and I don't intend ever returning to the UK, except for the occasional business trip.

HAHA! Hong Kong :rotfl:. This is where I'm from. It's a wondrous place really. It's true, even if your salary is 1/3 less, you're still making quite a bit more than you would in the UK after tax.

As for me, there are a number of places I've considered.

HK is definitely among the top contenders of my list due to the favourable tax system and quality of life. And once you get past housing and food, cost of living too!

Don't forget that foreign income is not taxable in HK. Make your millions outside and remit it to HK tax free :-). What a wise government we have .

Nathalie_

Yes, there's certainly something very wrong with England and income tax at the moment. Our government is making a big mistake- people who have had to be ruthless in terms of getting where they want to be (earning higher salaries) will be ruthless when it comes to making the choice of investing their money somewhere elsewhere. Like yourselves it would seem! I would certainly emmigrate if I was earning over £100,000 p/a. What with house prices etc. so high, there doesn't seem to be any reason for staying in the UK.

Randvegeta

Nathalie_ wrote: »

Yes, there's certainly something very wrong with England and income tax at the moment. Our government is making a big mistake- people who have had to be ruthless in terms of getting where they want to be (earning higher salaries) will be ruthless when it comes to making the choice of investing their money somewhere elsewhere. Like yourselves it would seem! I would certainly emmigrate if I was earning over £100,000 p/a. What with house prices etc. so high, there doesn't seem to be any reason for staying in the UK.

What is the average wage in the UK? But I was just thinking, if you're earning £50k /yr in the UK, after tax, you have a little over £35k, and that's assuming you make no pension contributions and have already paid off/don't have a student loan. Even with this sort of wage, a family of 4, I bet, would struggle to reach anything but an 'okay' standard of living. And I find it somewhat hard to believe that the average family would have a take home income of much more than this.